publication information

abstract

Evidence is mounting that pollinators of crop and wildland plants are declining worldwide. Our research group at UC Berkeley and UC Davis conducted a 3-year survey of bee pollinators in seven cities from Northern California to Southern California. Results indicate that many types of urban residential gardens provide floral and nesting resources for the reproduction and survival of bees, especially a diversity of native bees. Habitat gardening for bees, using targeted ornamental plants, can predictably increase bee diversity and abundance, and provide clear pollination benefits.

author notes

We thank the California Agricultural Experiment Station for support of this research; Maggie Przybylski, Sue Holland, Katie Montgomery, Kristal Hinojosa and Kloie Karels for assistance in collecting bees and bee-frequency counts; and Peter Kevan for reading a draft of the manuscript. Finally, we thank the numerous gardeners, managers and directors of the gardens we monitored for their cooperation during survey periods.